sweet and savory broccoli salad

substitutions can be made for whatever you have in the house. i know what you’re thinking: “mayonnaise-based salads?” but i recently had a sweetened mayo broccoli salad that was actually delicious (too much time in the midwest, maybe?)

perhaps this is a good transition away from heavy winter food, now that it’s already too hot to slow-bake ribs.

plus, it looks sweet and creamy without any added sugar.

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3 large broccoli heads
5 diced radishes
2 diced tomatoes
1 diced apple
1/2 cup of red grapes, diced, drain (read: drink) the juice
5 green onions minus the white part, diced
1 cup medium carrot, shredded
1/2 cup dried cranberries

dressing:
3 Tbsp oil (she recommends sunflower or olive; i think i’ll use walnut oil, my new favorite salad oil)
1 Tbsp mayo
1 Tbsp sour cream
1/2 tsp garlic salt
3 Tbsp lemon juice

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adapted from natasha’s kitchen

green salad/pasta salad

pea leaves and tendrils, torn into bite-sized pieces (or whatever salad greens you have around)

cooked pasta, coated with a little oil or fat
a few spoonfuls of last night’s blended roasted vegetable soup
a few sundried tomatoes, torn into tiny bits
basil
herbs de provence
apple cider vinegar
balsamic vinegar
a few dashes worcestershire sauce
garlic powder, salt, pepper
diced raw onion (optional)
mayonnaise (optional)

combine everything but the pea leaves. top with pea leaves, or mix them in so the kids can’t pick them out!

better the longer it sits, but edible immediately.

ginger orange broccoli quinoa salad

1 and 1/2 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth (or water)
1 cup of uncooked quinoa
2 tablespoons of freshly grated ginger (divided)
1 teaspoon of freshly grated orange peel
juice of one small orange
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of canola oil
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of honey or agave
pinch of salt
1 cup of trimmed sugar snap peas, halved
2 cups of broccoli slaw (shredded broccoli florets and stems, red cabbage and carrots)
1 red pepper, cut into thin strips
1 yellow pepper, cut into thin strips
3 tablespoons of fresh cilantro or parsley
2 tablespoons of thinly sliced scallions
1 cup of dry roasted peanuts (or raw)
1 tablespoon of black or white sesame seeds

1. Place the vegetable stock, 1 tablespoon of grated ginger, grated orange rind, orange juice and quinoa in a medium sauce pot. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and cover the pot. Cook the quinoa for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, mix the rice wine vinegar, other tablespoon of grated ginger, canola oil, sesame oil, honey and salt in a small glass jar or container. Shake to combine.

3. After the quinoa has cooked for 10 minutes, turn off the heat. Toss in the sugar snap peas, broccoli slaw and red pepper. Return lid to pot and allow the veggies to steam with the quinoa for 5 minutes. Remove lid and allow mixture to cool to room temperature.

4. Toss the quinoa mixture with the salad dressing. Add in the dry roasted peanuts. Garnish the salad with fresh cilantro (or parsley), scallions and sesame seeds.

Serve at room temperature.

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from the fig tree

morrocan tangerine and olive salad

4 large tangerines
1/2 cup halved pitted Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 head of butter lettuce, torn into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

whisk the stuff in chunk one, pour it over the stuff in chunk two, and pour that over the stuff in chunk three

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found

sweet veg spring rolls

light, refreshing, crunchy, colorful, easy, gluten-free (spring roll wrappers are made of tapioca and rice), nearly raw, vegetarian or even vegan, and no-cook!

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soak your spring roll wrappers in warm water for two or three minutes. if you don’t soak them for long enough, they won’t stick. you want them pliable, not plasticky.

some ideas for things to put in your spring rolls:

+ cabbage slaw (salt, sesame seeds, fresh ginger and garlic, and heavy on the lime juice)
+ carrot slaw or carrot salad with sesame oil and rice wine vinegar
+ colorful bell peppers and/or hot peppers
+ avocado
+ mango
+ bean sprouts
+ cucumbers (we found long and skinny korean cucumbers! but they mostly tasted like the english kind.)
+ hard-boiled eggs
+ mushrooms
+ glass noodles
+ herbs like mint, chives, or cilantro

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dip rolls into something wonderful, like

+ ginger soy sauce (mince some ginger and leave it to sit in soy sauce while you cook)
+ lime peanut sauce (thin warm peanut butter with sesame, peanut, or chili oil and lime juice)
+ mint chutney (ferment your own!)
+ kim chee
+ any other awesome korean ferment (scallops-kochujang[chilipaste]-garlic!)
+ hot pepper sauce
+ garlic aioli (mince garlic into yogurt, mayonnaise, or both with a squeeze of lemon juice and black pepper and let sit at least one hour)

avocado, strawberry, and sorrel salad

not all shamrocks are clovers!

sorrel is one of my favorite foods. it is impossible not to smile while eating sour leaves. wood sorrels grow wild almost everywhere in the country. it bolts about this time of year, so try to pull leaves from plants that haven’t gone to seed yet for maximum sourness. learn which Oxalis grow near you and harvest some.

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just gather sorrel leaves and top with hunks of avocado and strawberry. the strawberries are from my local farmers’ market and the sorrel grows wild!

don’t forget the balsamic or lemon juice!

top with anything, like:
nuts or seeds of any kind
bitter greens
ricotta or goat cheese
fresh herbs

i like just sorrel, strawberry, avocado, balsamic, and fresh lemon juice.

crunchy bean salad four ways

vegan!
ready in less than five minutes!
healthy!

the base:
cooked beans (canned or not, doesn’t matter)
(for a party, i’ll use 1 can red beans, 1 can black beans, 1 can white beans, and 1 can garbanzo beans. a crazy amount of food for under $5!)

one trick?
you want a lot more dressing with a bean salad than a green salad, since beans are sort of bland on their own. don’t skimp on the sour if your stomach doesn’t handle vinegar very well! any sort of lacto-ferment brine, citrus juices, or homemade fruit vinegars work awesomely.

one more trick?
say you gave it the sour and salt it requires, but it’s still missing that extra something and doesn’t taste like your grandmother’s? a spoonful of sweetener, same as pasta sauce.

recipe 1 – crunchy sherry beans

rice wine vinegar
soy sauce
cooking sherry (if drinking sherry, add salt)
crushed-up peanuts
raw bean sprouts
raw sugar snaps or other fresh small pea still in the pod, snapped in half
minced fresh onions
(opt.) sprinkle of cabbage or kraut
(opt.) powdered or fresh ginger
(opt.) ground anise, clove, or chinese 5-spice powder
(opt.) powdered or raw garlic
(opt.) hoisin
(opt.) brine from a lacto-ferment, homemade fruit vinegars, or any sort of citrus juice

recipe 2 – crunchy dilled bean salad

balsamic
dill (rosemary’s good too, or really any herb)
crushed-up almonds
a splash of burgundy cooking wine
olive oil
garlic
snap peas in pod, raw, snapped in half
(opt.) brine from a lacto-ferment, homemade fruit vinegars, or any sort of citrus juice

recipe 3 – crunchy cilantro bean salad (normally black or pinto beans)

apple cider vinegar
lime juice
cilantro, with stems chopped coarsely
cumin
garlic
raw onion
raw corn
(opt.) raw avocado
(opt.) lime pickle
(opt.) brine from a lacto-ferment, homemade fruit vinegars, or any sort of citrus juice

recipe 4 – crunchy lacto-fermented bean salad

any lacto-ferments you have lying around (i personally like coarsely chopped green bean or snap pea pickles, minced garlic pickles, and lime pickles in some combination)
any herbs

baba ghanouj

baba ghanoush, baba ganush, baba ghannouj or baba ghannoug, or بابا غنوج

i take this stuff for granted, because i tend to eat it often.

some kids, wrinkling their noses, asked me yesterday, “what are you eating? it looks disgusting.”

it may not look pretty to them, but anyone lucky enough to sample some of this extremely healthy, cheap meal will know that beauty is relative, and real food doesn’t always look like its processed counterparts.

two eggplants
one head of garlic
one hot pepper
one zucchini

stick all these things in an oven and roast at a high temperature (425? 400?) until blackish outside. discard skins. stick everything in a food processor or blender.

add lime or lemon juice and salt to taste, and a fat spoonful or two of tahini and olive oil.

puree.

you can add anything to this and it’d be fantastic. sometimes i’ll stick in whatever vegetables are going bad in my fridge (hence the addition of the zucchini to the recipe). often i’ll add a pinch of cumin, cinnamon, paprika, black pepper, and/or sumac. cayenne is a must for me, but the hot pepper and cayenne are, of course, both optional.

wonderful served as a dip, along with hummus, pita (or dosai or any other bread,) and veggies. don’t worry, dieters, celiacs-faces, and other gfs! you can dip anything in this – kebabs, carrots, celery, tomatoes, anything. make “tortillas” out of lettuce, kale, cabbage, or mustard greens and wrap up some beans and baba. you can use it as a sandwich spread – a great lo-cal mayo substitute with way more flavor.

a great baba trick? buy a week’s worth of veggies, roast them all in one day, tupperware ‘em, and your mid-week baba fix will be ready in less than five minutes.

rote riebesalat

this beet salad looks ideal to me – sour and a little sweet with lots of flavor. can’t wait to try it; i love beets with horseradish!

Rote Riebesalat

Ingredients:
2 ea red beets; bunches

Marinade:
2 tb water
1/4 c vinegar
2 tb caraway seeds
1 ts sugar
2 tb onion; minced
1 ts horseradish
1/4 ts cloves; ground
1/2 ts salt
1/4 ts pepper
5 tb vegetable oil

Instructions
Wash beets, trim off greens, place in medium saucepan, and cook, without peeling, in salted water to cover, until beets are tender. Peel and slice. Prepare marinade dressing by combining remaining ingredients. Pour over beets and let stand for several hours before serving. Stir beets occasionally.

from here.

indonesian fruit rujak // shrimp paste day

The typical Indonesian fruit rujak consists of slices of assorted tropical fruits such as jambu air (water apple), pineapple, raw mangoes, bengkoang (jicama), cucumber, kedondong, and raw red ubi jalar (sweet potato). Sometimes Malang variants of green apple, belimbing, and jeruk Bali (pomelo) are added. The sweet and spicy-hot bumbu rujak dressing is made of water, gula jawa (palm sugar), asem jawa (tamarind), ground sauteed peanuts, terasi (shrimp paste), salt, bird’s eye chili, and red chili. All of the fruits are sliced to bite-size, and put in the dish. The bumbu rujak or thick sweet spicy rujak dressing is poured on the fruit slices. An addition of sambal garam powder (simple mixture of salt and ground red chilli) is put on side as the alternative for those who love a salty taste for their rujak.

-wikipedia